The surveys are in, the interviews are done, and our first project review with JNKA Architects was completed on March 15. The architects  were impressed at the amount of input they received from members and groups within Grace and how well this input re-enforced our goals:

Nadia Kanhai - Volunteer with Northern Illinois Justice For Our Neighbors and Grace Church Member

It had been a busy few weeks.The garbage was piling up, literally.

We call it BoOM--the Board of Ordained Ministry. This is my fifth year of serving on the BoOM. Each year we spend two days in February and another two in March at a Candidates’ Conference, selecting your pastors for the future. If you think we in the local congregation have differences of opinion, try getting 52 pastors, deacons and laity to come to some consensus!  

How do you feel when you enter Grace? How do you think a visitor might feel? Do you give up fighting your way through narrow halls after worship to get to coffee and just head for your car? Are you comfortable finding your way around Grace or do you just stick to the places you know?

If a hungry child approached you, and all you had in your pocket was a quarter, what could you buy that child? A quart of milk, a pizza slice, a hamburger or hot dog, a cup of soup? A quarter will not buy much, and certainly not anything, that could nourish a child for an entire day.

If you have not had the pleasure of meeting Theresa Bussert and her son, Zak, I would like to take this opportunity to introduce them to you. I met Theresa in September 2014, shortly after I had joined Grace as the Open Doors Ministry’s Coordinator.

Can we find a way to make visitors to Grace feel right at home? Can we make it easy for visitors and young families to find their way around on Sunday morning? Can we find a way to avoid gridlock after Worship when heading for coffee? What can we do to enhance and enrich our sense of “community” across our various Grace activities?

More than 960,000 e-mails were sent, and that content was engaged by an audience four-times the industry average

February 18 and 19 will mark the fifth year that Grace Church’s partnership with faith-based and secular communities to help Feed My Starving Children (FMSC) hand pack meals specifically formulated for malnourished children.